Art, Antiques, and Collections: Year In Review 2000

Art Auctions and Sales

Defying all expectations, the art market in 2000 sustained substantial growth over 1999. Major auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s, however, came under scrutiny for commission fixing, and they agreed in September to pay $512 million to settle a civil suit against them. Bolstered by a bull stock market and increased consumer wealth, the auction houses continued to see record prices for high-quality works of art, through both traditional auction venues and transactions conducted via the Internet. In January 2000 Sotheby’s launched Sothebys.com, an e-commerce art and antiques World Wide Web site that achieved $31,000,000 in sales in its first six months, a total punctuated by the $8,140,000 sale of a rare first printing of the Declaration of Independence, by far the most expensive item ever auctioned on-line. Although Christie’s opted not to conduct auctions on Christies.com, the auction house greatly expanded its on-line capabilities by hosting live Webcasts of its important auctions.

In the sale of Old Master paintings held in New York City, Christie’s achieved $39,290,500, its highest total in 10 years. The high seller was Canaletto’s The Grand Canal Venice, Looking East from Campo di San Vio, which went for $6,602,500. Records were also established for artists Giovanni Battista, Carracci, and Carlo Maratta. In May Christie’s New York offered the single-owner Karl Lagerfeld Collection, which fetched $7,217,121. Christie’s London in July offered one of the most important drawings ever to appear at auction; Study for the Risen Christ by Michelangelo Buonarroti realized $12,378,500.

Reaching a sale total of $47,482,575, the Old Master auction at Sotheby’s included Peter Paul Rubens’s Portrait of a Man as the God Mars, which fetched $8,252,500 and set a record for the artist. The Rebuke of Adam and Eve by Domenichino also set a record at $3,302,500.

The sales of Impressionist and Modern art and Contemporary art at both auction houses were resoundingly successful. At Sotheby’s New York in May, the totals for these sales were the second highest in 10 years, with Impressionist art earning a staggering $140,354,000, earmarked by the sale of Claude Monet’s Le Portail (Soleil), which fetched $24,205,750. An Henri Matisse sculpture entitled La Serpentine–Femme à la stele–l’araignee sold for a record $14,030,750, the highest price paid for a sculpture at auction.

Christie’s New York set a world auction record in May with the sale of Gustave Caillebotte’s L’Homme au balcon, which commanded $14.3 million in a sale that earned $104.5 million. Monet’s Nympheas reached $20.9 million, the highest bid of the evening.

Sotheby’s London Impressionist sale in June totaled $80,327,040 and was underscored by Edgar Degas’s Petit danseuse de quatorze ans, which sold for $11,547,740 and established a European record at auction for a sculpture. In June Christie’s London sold Paul Cézanne’s Still Life with Fruit for $18.2 million.

In its sale of 20th-century art, Christie’s New York set 15 auction records in a sale totaling $14.5 million. The apex of the auction was Sigmar Polke’s atypical dot painting Zwei Frauen, which realized $1,650,000. In its sale of 20th-century art, Christie’s offered Pablo Picasso’s Nature morte aux tulipes, which achieved $28.6 million. Also in May, Sotheby’s New York held a robust sale of Contemporary art. The highlight was a 1956 painting by Mark Rothko, Yellow over Purple, which sold for $14,305,750, an unprecedented price for this artist at auction.

The June sale at Sotheby’s London gave way to eight new auction records for Contemporary artists, including one for Gerald Richter, whose Martha set a record for an abstract painting when it realized £443,500 (about $643,075). The Christie’s June sale in London earned $8.9 million.

In New York Sotheby’s American paintings, drawings, and sculpture sale in May totaled $38,497,075. The sale was highlighted by 10 lots that realized winning bids of more than $1,000,000, notably Ralph Albert Blakelock’s Indian Encampment Along the Snake River, which fetched $3,525,750 and set an artist record. Christie’s American paintings sale earned $33,164,800, the highest total for this category in the auction house’s history. Highlighting the sale was Frederic Edwin Church’s Mount Newport on Mount Desert Island for $4,186,000.

At Sotheby’s New York sales of Latin American art on May 31 and June 1, a record was achieved for a rare self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, which sold for $5,065,750 and established the highest auction price ever paid for a work by a woman artist. The June sale at Christie’s New York of Latin American paintings realized $8,984,757 and gave rise to seven auction records, including the $468,000 brought for Fernando Botero’s sculpture Reclining Venus.

Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s boasted strong results in the worldwide jewelry market. In May Christie’s New York sale of magnificent jewels totaled $19.3 million. The top lot was a 27.49-carat ring, which went for $1,381,000. Christie’s Hong Kong had the best sale results of the spring series with Magnificent Jewellery I: The Far Eastern Collector and Magnificent Jewellery II: Tradition and Innovation Jewels Without Reserve, which together realized $36.3 million. Sotheby’s New York offered the private collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd H. Smith, which commanded $19,986,472. The spring jewelry sale in Geneva totaled $32,229,427, owing in large part to the sale of the magnificent jewels of Marie Vergottis, whose sapphire and diamond necklace sold for $1,035,450.

Sales in antiquities brought Sotheby’s the highest total for a various-owner sale in the auction house’s history; the June sale realized $9.5 million. The bronze head of an athlete—a rare Roman copy of a lost original by Greek sculptor Lysippos—stole the show and sold for $4.5 million, a record price for a classical antiquity at auction.

At Sotheby’s New York in June was the sale of the items from the shipwrecked SS Central America. The cache aboard this treasure ship, recovered after 132 years, consisted primarily of gold bars and coins. The sale brought $5,567,815; an 18,779.9-g (663.6-oz) gold bar made by Kellogg and Humbert, Assayers, San Francisco, fetched $265,000.

Christie’s achieved impressive sales results for books and manuscripts and in New York set a world record for a printed book with the $8,802,500 sale of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America: From Original Drawings by John James Audubon. Christie’s London sold the private library of William Foyle for $18.9 million, the highest European price ever realized for such a collection. Sotheby’s London attained great success with the sale of the 16th-century Book of Hours, illustrated by Renaissance illuminator Simon Bening, for £2,610,500 (about $3,785,000).

Art, Antiques, and Collections: Year In Review 2000. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1018425/Art-Antiques-and-Collections-Year-In-Review-2000/231365/Art-Auctions-and-Sales

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